With just one month remaining in the regular season, the Oconto Falls High School wrestling team is peaking at the right time.
A victory in a conference dual Thursday against perennial contender Wrightstown helped lead the Panthers to an even larger victory Saturday at their Brawl in the Falls tournament.
Oconto Falls senior Nate Trepanier continued his perfect season with three victories on the day, including a 10-4 decision over Isaac Roffers, of Reedsville, to win the 152-pound title.
Bryce Peterson (113), Bryce Ash (145) and Mac Winkler (182) also won their respective divisions. Peterson won his match over Ashwaubenon’s Fernando Coronado, 11-9, while Ash secured an 8-7 decision over Bay Port’s Dylan Sundin. Winkler earned a 6-3 decision over Alex Lemanski, of Edgar.
Twelve Oconto Falls wrestlers finished in the top six in their weight classes.
“We finished strong. The guys that lost early in the day came all the way back. … It’s easy to tank it when you lose at 10 o’clock in the morning,” Oconto Falls head coach Marc Kinziger said. “A lot of them lost in that first round and came all the way back and placed.”
Despite the success on the mat for Oconto Falls, Kinziger saw some improvements that could be made, especially by some of the younger wrestlers.
“Guys were sitting on a lead and were trying to be happy just to squeak by with the lead rather than being the aggressor that got them to being in the lead in the first place,” Kinziger said. “They kind of sat back on their heels and were letting teams come after them. That’s a learning process.”
The Panthers’ most serious challenge came from Bay Port, which defeated Oconto Falls, 36-30, in a dual on Dec. 22, but Oconto Falls won nine of the 12 place matches at the end of the day to secure the victory.
“We knew it was going to be a race to the finish,” Kinziger said. “Bay Port kept winning too. We just maintained, but we had to keep winning in the final round to maintain that lead.”
Kinziger also said Oconto Falls’ momentum from its 33-27 road win over Wrightstown on Thursday carried into the weekend tourney.
“We went there, and we beat them,” Kinziger said. “That was a big thing for us, you could see change in the guys that night. Quite honestly, we expected that to carry over to today.”
Cory Wolf, the Panthers’ heavyweight, missed the tournament with an injury, so Cory Holtger filled in the position. He did not place.
Gillett/Suring’s Alex Zeitler lost a tough match in the semifinal to Bay Port’s Jack Rathburn before taking third place with an 8-2 decision over Edgar’s Will Raatz. Teammate Brett Milhans finished second in the 170-pound weight class after getting pinned by Green Bay Preble’s Austin Lasee.
Garrett Kohls, of Gillett/Suring, also added a third-place finish.
Meanwhile, Lena/St. Thomas Aquinas Academy had one wrestler place, Dylan Garrigan, in the 182-pound division.
Brawl in the Falls
Team scores: Oconto Falls, 197; Bay Port, 179; Green Bay Preble, 130; Wabeno/Laona, 111; Bonduel, 104.5; Reedsville, 89; Ashwaubenon, 88.5; New London, 83; Edgar, 70.5; Winneconne, 61.5; New Holstein, 61; Luxemburg-Casco, 59.5; Gillett/Suring, 59; Menominee Indian 55; Florence, 29; Menominee (MI), 22; Lena/St. Thomas Aquinas, 17.
Top 6 local finishers
106: Collin Schindel, Oconto Falls, 5th place.
113: Bryce Peterson, Oconto Falls, 1st place.
120: Evan Konitzer, Oconto Falls, 5th place.
126: Garrett Kohls, Gillett/Suring, 3rd place; Trevor Pankratz, Oconto Falls, 4th place.
132: Kenton Peterson, Oconto Falls, 4th place.
145: Bryce Ash, Oconto Falls, 1st place.
152: Nate Trepanier, Oconto Falls, 1st place.
160: Alex Zeitler, Gillett/Suring, 3rd place; Brice Delzer, Oconto Falls, 6th place.
170: Brett Milhans, Gillett/Suring, 2nd place; Tristen Brown, Oconto Falls, 5th place.
182: Mac Winkler, Oconto Falls, 1st place; Dylan Garrigan, Lena/STAA, 5th place.
195: Kyle Wolf, Oconto Falls, 5th place.
220: Garret Cole, Oconto Falls, 5th place.
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